Working Title: My Spectrum
Members: Tim Wolfe

1. Concept: My Spectrum is a documentary style show that will showcase people diagnosed with a disorder on the autistic spectrum. It will explore what it is like for people with this disease to transition from childhood to adulthood and eventually live independently. I will interview children, teenagers, and adults to provide a perspective from all stages of life. I will also interview the people in their lives that act as their support systems (family, friends, teachers) because they are a crucial part of their development. This show will focus primarily on the adults, since I am mostly interested in seeing how successful they have become in living independently.

2. Techniques to work on: basic filming skills (camera angles, lighting, sound, etc.) and interview skills and techniques.

3. Actors/Subjects: 1 child, 1 teenager, and 1 adult diagnosed with a disorder on the autistic spectrum, their teachers/aides, and their family/friends. I may also be on camera for some of the interviews/segments.

4. Equipment needed: 2 cameras, 2 tripods, lighting, lavalier mics, boom mic, and possibly a steadicam.

5. Possible locations: elementary school, middle school, place of work (for the adult subject), and also possibly their respective communities and/or neighborhoods.

6. Other logistics: releases and consent are a must for this project, due to the sensitive nature of the content. It may be difficult to schedule times to film with the children during the school day, so I would have to speak with their teachers and parents. Also, I'm riding solo on this project so I may need help from a few people in our class during filming. If anyone is interested, let me know.

Feedback, concerns, or predictions:
I am excited about this project because I think that it could be very interesting and informative. People with autism are very honest, have extremely creative minds, and are quite frankly some of the most interesting people I've ever met. This is a serious topic, but I think that this show could not only spread knowledge but also be very entertaining to watch. My concerns, aside from scheduling and consent, are finding adult subjects to film. I may contact someone at the national autism society for help with that. I'm also concerned that this project is structured more like a documentary film, and not like a television show. I'm not sure how I could extend this idea into multiple episodes.

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